The Complete Idiot's Guide to Curling

Matt Hartman is a freelance editor and cataloguer, running Hartman Cataloguing, Editing and Indexing Services.

Curling’s elevation to Olympic-medal status in 1998 extended the
audience for a sport that the MSNBC Website news has likened to
“horizontal darts on ice, with big Fisher Price tea kettles as pucks.
Or maybe hockey and chess blended with billiards and croquet, then
crossbred with a really good scrub of the kitchen floor.” Bolton, an
expert practitioner, and Douglas, a curling wannabe and author of other
“Complete Idiot’s” books, have pooled their skills to bring us a
fine, fact-filled volume devoted to the fundamentals and finer points of
this esoteric sport. We learn about the movement of the granite rock
(the ways in which the sweeping can control the direction and speed of
the shot) and about the importance of psychology (the mental game). The
book’s appendixes are devoted to tournament results in Canada and the
United States, the names of champions in both countries, recommended
reading, and a directory of curling services. Well worth purchasing for
the public library.